Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

An immortal story of love, adventure, chivalry, treachery and death.

Edited and first published by William Caxton in 1485, Le Morte D'Arthur is Sir Thomas Malory's unique and splendid version of the Arthurian legend. Mordred's treason, the knightly exploits of Tristan, Lancelot's fatally divided loyalties and his love for Guenever, the quest for the Holy Grail; all the elements are there woven into a wonderful completeness by the magic of his prose style.

The result is not only one of the most readable accounts of the knights of the Round Table but also one of the most moving. As the story advances towards the inevitable tragedy of Arthur's death the effect is cumulative, rising with an impending sense of doom and tragedy towards its shattering finale.

Synopsis

This May, Sir Thomas Malory's splendid version of the Arthurian legend comes to the small screen as a Hallmark NBC miniseries starring Isabelle Rossellini, Kate Nelligan, and Sam Neill.

Synopsis

Sir Thomas Malory's richly evocative and enthralling version of the Arthurian legendRecounting Arthur's birth, his ascendancy to the throne after claiming Excalibur, his ill-fated marriage to Guenever, the treachery of Morgan le Fay and the exploits of the Knights of the Round Table, it magically weaves together adventure, battle, love and enchantment. Le Morte D'Arthur looks back to an idealized Medieval world and is full of wistful, elegiac regret for a vanished age of chivalry. Edited and published by William Caxton in 1485, Malory's prose romance drew on French and English verse sources to give an epic unity to the Arthur myth, and remains the most magnificent re-telling of the story in English. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."

About the Author

Sir Thomas Malory was a knight and estate owner in the mid 15th century, who spent many years in prison for political crimes as well as robbery. He wrote Le Morte d’Arthur, the first great English prose epic, while imprisoned in Nwgate. The epic was published in 1485 by William Caxton, the first English printer. Malory is believed to have died in 1471.